(AFP hosted by Yahoo) | February 27, 2010
Jay Deshmukh
Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi Saturday called for the staging of a fresh anti-government rally in Tehran to prove depth of support for his so-called Green Movement among disenchanted Iranians.
Opposition attempts to hold anti-government protests on February 11, when the nation marked the 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution, were crushed by security forces and eclipsed by regime-sponsored mass rallies.
“I and Mr (Mehdi) Karroubi think that the Green Movement be allowed to stage a rally… in order to put an end to all speculation,” Mousavi said, referring to Iran’s other main opposition leader.
The supporters of the two leaders, who were defeated by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June election they claim were massively rigged, have taken to streets whenever possible to stage anti-government demonstrations.
In an interview on his website Kaleme.com, Mousavi said the February 11 mass rally in Tehran marking the revolution anniversary was not spontaneous.
“I say that this rally was an engineered one,” the former premier turned opposition leader said.
The presence of security forces on that day, he added, was “unprecedented” and the “tough (security) agents were not even tolerating a single person wearing green bands” — the colour sported by his supporters.